Disney every year...

[Deesknee]

Well put.

As I said, we are definitely #3 (although some would say there is an element of #1 in there as well). I know one guy who goes to Disney VERY often. I always wondered how he did it. Well, one time I happened to be at his house and couldn't help but notice the CC bill sitting open on the table. It showed a balance of over $12,000. That wasn't the bill for the month but the balance carried over. Then I knew how he could go so frequently.

You just can't judge anything by appearances. People may have money you don't know about. Or they may have a ton of debt you don't know about. You just need to live the life you can afford and not worry how you stack up to everyone around you.

Don't judge a book by it's cover. A friend of mine just used his CC to buy a car! He gets points from his CC company. Plus he has a really low interest rate for 6 months. At the end of the 6 months he will pay it off.
I however don't live in that world.

 

[disneysteve]

Don't judge a book by it's cover. A friend of mine just used his CC to buy a car! He gets points from his CC company. Plus he has a really low interest rate for 6 months. At the end of the 6 months he will pay it off.

Good point. I've tried to do that the last 3 times we car shopped but the dealers wouldn't go for it. I wish they would. Your friend was lucky to work that out.

 

[jenr812]

We just save money for the trip through ...not eating more than once a week

Goodness you really ARE a hardcore disney fan


We just took our first family trip to WDW in July 2005 and will return in May 2007, so we're not on the "every year" bandwagon (though I would love it if we were!!!). We've funded our trips with our tax returns as others have, as well as yard sales, mystery shopping, surveys, using the change jar, putting aside a little from every paycheck, etc. I refuse to put vacations on a CC (well, we are putting our trip on the Disney Visa, but only to get the rewards - it's getting PIF immediately before any interest accrues).

 

[SHarper02]

I have been extremely lucky this past year. In a 12 month period I was able to go 5 times for a total of 32 days. I work for an airline (30 hours a week) so therefore I don't have to pay for flights, and fortunately, Disney has an AWESOME discount for airline employees. Count the free transportation from the airport, annual passes, and DDE...we get off REALLY cheap. The first trip was a bit more expensive because we had to buy the tix, but after that...no problem.

I generally travel with my little guy who is 5 and my mom (they both fly for free using my benefits). My husband doesn't get as much time off as I do and also is not as entranced with Disney as I am.

My Disney fanatacism was only supposed to last a year...until the APs ran out, but wouldn't ya know it...we are hooked and bought into DVC (my mom and I split the contract since we always travel together).

So now with a mixture of free dining and DVC points I'm heading down for 15 days to start my new year of Disney... also already scheduled a 4 day mini vacation in December and a week and a half in Jan/Feb when my kiddo turns 6!

 

[mousiemom]

This is how we do it:
-my dh and I both work FT
-we have one child
-we only go during value season and stay @ value resorts
-we take our own groceries(we do 2 character meals)
-we buy a lot of our souvenirs before our trip
-we're buying AP this Dec. so my dd has saved $300 and we are having a yard sale next month to help buy ours($924)
-i decorate xmas trees during Dec. and make $100-150 a tree
-we draw names during xmas and ask for disney dollars for xmas and our birthdays
-Believe my dh is so frugal, we save on not going out to eat, clothes, makeup, etc.
-income tax return we put towards another disney trip or pay off the trip we just went on.
-we work during our senior bowl game in Jan. for extra $
-xmas bonus goes towards disney
**You can make it happen. We go to a lot of places and WDW is our favorite. Nothing compares to it and you pay for what you get!!

 

[solgent]

Our income is good, not astronomical. I work FT and my DH works PT on an hourly basis.

Here are some of the key ways that we scrimp for vacations
1) Rarely eating out. DH and I have "date night" once a month, and sometimes we've gone for burritos. They're yummy and the point is to be together. This includes when I take the kids to the pool and library for the day. We bring lunch from home along with us. In good weather we eat outside. In bad weather we eat at the food court at the mall. I rarely see other people doing this, and something I wonder if I'm not too strict. But the kids don't complain. They like the food DH packs for us. And these small things are what enable us to pay for the big things.
2) One, 12 year old car. DH drives it to work. I ride the bus (my employer pays busfare.)
3) No cellphones, no cable TV.
4) Thrift store clothing. Also, for DH and me, it's "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." I still wear clothes that I got 10, 15, 20 years ago. I don't wear any makeup. (I don't do this in order to save money, but I realize that going without makeup is cheaper than wearing makeup!)
5) We get books from the library.
6) No babysitting or after-school care costs. We swap with other families.
7) We often camp or stay with friends when travelling.
8) When giving gifts, we buy on sale and try to use creativity to substitute for money. Example, my SIL's brother is single, has a great job, is very generous to my nephew. We made nephew an ABC book using photos of our kids. Brother and SIL said it is the best gift nephew has ever gotten.
9) We use compact fluorescent light bulbs, are scrupulous about turning lights off, and we unplug things like the coffee maker that have a clock display, because they're always draining power. I use the dryer for 1 load of laundry and hang another load to dry. On days I go to the gym, I got first thing in the morning and take a shower there.
10) We clean our own house, mow our own lawn and take our own trash to the landfill. I do get professional hair cuts, but I cut the girls' hair and DH cuts his own.

I am very happy with our lifestyle. Our life is full of what we like and think is important-- time together, time with friends, time outdoors, reading, making things.

 

[FlyingBelle]

Here's how we do it...

1) Work for an airline - sometimes fly standby (free or small $), sometimes buy tickets during fare sales. I never spend more than $150/person on airfare from Chicago (major airline)

2) Airline discount on rooms - usually 50% off rack rate and usually includes free round of mini-golf.

3) Disney Visa - I charge everything I can to my Disney Chase Visa (insurance, cell phone bills, gas, groceries, etc), and pay it off every month. Helps me budget AND I get Disney dollars, usually several hundred that I use for meals on the trip

4) Buy tickets in bulk - every few years I buy several days of park tickets (now they've added the extra charge for non-expiring). We don't go to the parks every day on the trip - usually 2 or 3, so they last us a couple years.

5) I buy souvenears at the Disney Store at home before I leave. I've gotten hats and t-shirts on clearance for under $5 every time!


We don't make a lot, but we make it work for us. As many others mentioned before - live within your means. We don't care about fancy cars or big houses, we like to take trips together and spend quality time!

 

[keishashadow]

DH is the breadwinner, I putz around earn very little lately in home-based enterprise (took break from real estate).

We drive older vehicles ('02 & '93) & limit eating out & "frivolous" expenditures...we prefer to designate our disposable income for travel.

I cook mostly from "scratch", very little convenience foods for us & we have a garden, just got done canning tomatoes.

Must save that our resale purchase& add-on of DVC has enabled us to stay very reasonably onsite.

AP's (with current $100 disc. per person) make it possible to return twice, if not 3 times in a year.

AP rates or AAA rates for the "peak" weekend time periods that we don't use DVC points

ME (which we haven't used yet) certainly can help out a vacation budget.

DP can be easily stretched out over the last day.

Timeshare offers - used a Sheraton Vistana one in June, cost us $49 for 4 nights w/o a presentation requirement .

Also, run monthly purchases thru either Disney Rewards or AirTran CC to rack up gift cards/air vouchers.

We too, allocate our income tax refund as travel fund...yes, I know I could save the money each pay - trust me, I wont LOL.

 

[chrisn]

We are far from poor but definitely not rich by any means. We have two kids. A fourth grade son in braces and an 18 yr old DD whom just started her freshman year at college. We both work full time and I get a pretty fat bonus every year right before Thanksgiving from my boss (most of it goes into the vacation fund-the other part for X-mas). My dad owns a timeshare in Lake Buena Vista so we save on accomodations. We own a rental home outright and some of that money goes to the vacation fund also. We try to live at or our means but it's hard sometimes. We own a beautiful home and drive two (actually three if you count DD's) nice cars. Vacations are a priority for us and we usually do Disney every other year with a week in the Caribbean on the off year. Sometimes I get greedy and do both. I budget vacation money but now that DD is in college away from home, even with scholarship we are puting out alot of money. Some of these things are starting to catch up to us so I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to do it but it's sure been a great ride. I wouldn't trade the memories for anything in the world. I keep saying this December trip to WDW coming up might be our last for a few years so I plan on making it count. I feel and know that we are extremely fortunate to have experienced so many of the beautiful things we have done and I try to remember that instead of taking it for granted. I know one thing for sure. I'll NEVER buy brand new cars EVER again. I'd rather drive a hooptie and still be able to keep seeing my Mickey!

 

[disneysteve]

I'll NEVER buy brand new cars EVER again. I'd rather drive a hooptie and still be able to keep seeing my Mickey!

I'll have to see if there is a hooptie dealer around here.

 

[srgibbs]

We started going last Sept. and will leave again this Friday. We plan to try and go once a year while or kids are still little. DD is 2 and DS is 5 (just started K-5 at Private Christian school). My husband makes a good salary but not Huge. I stay at home and am very much a bargin shopper. I buy stuff in bulk at costco and watch for all sales on cloths, food, shoes ect. We have no car notes or debt besides our house note and do tithe to our church. We do not drive fancy cars and keep them long after they are paid for. We do eat out some but share a lot or go on kids eat free nights. We have gone during free dining/value season which really keeps the cost a lot lower. Last year our 7night package was around $1,500 and this year it is about 1,900 which were both Moderate resorts with tickets and free dining. My husband is a banker and makes quarterly incentive so we put all that money aside for trips, furniture, appliances, and any extra's. That way we don't rely on it to pay monthly bills and just consider it extra. I really think the key is just planning ahead and going depending on what your budget allows for. I know we cannot afford to go every year if we don't go in value season and get some sort of perk like Free dining. Hope you have a great time.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We used to go to Disney every three years when my brother and I were younger. Now we've been going every year as my brother and I can pay for ourselves and we know how much money it's going to cost and where we don't mind cutting corners (i.e. souvenir money). It gets easier the older you get. My parents could have never been able to afford a Disney trip every year when we were younger without sacrificing other things even though they both worked at decent paying jobs (but we did go all out when we went to WDW so we might have been able to go more often if we did cheap/budget trips, but to us it isn't as fun).

 

[DMRick]

We go several times a year, but for less than most spend on one trip. We have AP's, we are lucky to live where Southwest flies us from $40 - 60 each way, we do well finding rental cars, usually 8 days at about $100. We share many meals, because we want too, and also visit friends in Disney. We luck out and get email and postcard rates, or AP's, and stay most often value, sometimes mod. We can't go to our local tourist lake for what we usually spend on Disney.
This year is different. We'll be giving up a couple of our Florida trips, for a different trip for us. We earned 4 free tickets, because we flew so much (and they had specials, double the rewards etc) and it's not worth it to use them to fly down to Florida, since our airfare is so inexpensive, so we sold two of them for $700 on eBay (actually I sold southwest shirts we got for signing up for credit cards (and then cancelled the cards before the annual fee came due), and included free tickets, and last visit down, we took a bump, which gave us $502 (which I don't get..our airfare was $215 for the two of us round trip with fees)..but they gave us back what we spent, plus what our new fare would be, and some extra..because the new fair would have been more, and got us home within 2 hours of our original flight . We're using 2 of our free tickets to get to CA next week for 4 days, and then the bump money, they let us use to book ATA (it was a little involved why we could use it) to Hawaii. So we're going to Hawaii, for a few days, then on a cruise around the Islands for a week, which happened to be really, really inexpensive for the two of us...and a lot of that money was paid for by selling the other two tickets. We realize we got really really lucky!! However, this trip will still be a lot more expensive than Florida, so we are cutting out a couple of those trips.
We are retired, have very little expenses, have a small website and ebay business. Vacations are more important to us than a lot of other things, so that's how we budget our money.

 

[kinntj]

Our income is good, not astronomical. I work FT and my DH works PT on an hourly basis.

Here are some of the key ways that we scrimp for vacations
1) Rarely eating out. DH and I have "date night" once a month, and sometimes we've gone for burritos. They're yummy and the point is to be together. This includes when I take the kids to the pool and library for the day. We bring lunch from home along with us. In good weather we eat outside. In bad weather we eat at the food court at the mall. I rarely see other people doing this, and something I wonder if I'm not too strict. But the kids don't complain. They like the food DH packs for us. And these small things are what enable us to pay for the big things.
2) One, 12 year old car. DH drives it to work. I ride the bus (my employer pays busfare.)
3) No cellphones, no cable TV.
4) Thrift store clothing. Also, for DH and me, it's "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." I still wear clothes that I got 10, 15, 20 years ago. I don't wear any makeup. (I don't do this in order to save money, but I realize that going without makeup is cheaper than wearing makeup!)
5) We get books from the library.
6) No babysitting or after-school care costs. We swap with other families.
7) We often camp or stay with friends when travelling.
8) When giving gifts, we buy on sale and try to use creativity to substitute for money. Example, my SIL's brother is single, has a great job, is very generous to my nephew. We made nephew an ABC book using photos of our kids. Brother and SIL said it is the best gift nephew has ever gotten.
9) We use compact fluorescent light bulbs, are scrupulous about turning lights off, and we unplug things like the coffee maker that have a clock display, because they're always draining power. I use the dryer for 1 load of laundry and hang another load to dry. On days I go to the gym, I got first thing in the morning and take a shower there.
10) We clean our own house, mow our own lawn and take our own trash to the landfill. I do get professional hair cuts, but I cut the girls' hair and DH cuts his own.

I am very happy with our lifestyle. Our life is full of what we like and think is important-- time together, time with friends, time outdoors, reading, making things.

Wow! What an inspiration. There's definately some good tips in there for living life to the fullest without a lot of stuff. Thanks!

 

[kinntj]

I hope to get to WDW every other year. Going somewhere else in between. I LOVE vacations and will make them a priority in our lives. If that means giving up fancy cars and decorating our house, then so be it. We do have a nice house, but we don't have to have fancy furniture in it.

Everyone here has given amazing tips of keeping the costs low and saving to make it happen. I'm greatful for everyone here!

 

[solgent]

Wow! What an inspiration. There's definately some good tips in there for living life to the fullest without a lot of stuff.

Thank you so much for saying that about what I wrote. We are motivated not only by minimizing our spending in areas that matter less to us but also by caring for the environment. Buying secondhand and borrowing from the library use fewer resources. I recommend the Tightwad Gazette books. There are many specific tips, but also an overall philosophy that being conscious about your choices (not just responding to ads or what the neighbors do) and generally keeping it simple is more fulfilling.

 

[Tiffer]

WE haven't been since 04, but are going back for C-mas. We moved across the country and that set us back a bit.

However, from 00-04, we had 6 trips. DM, being a hotel GM, we get employee rates alot. Needless to say, we have stayed off prop more than on.

Also, living in NY, we would drive to WDW quite a bit as at the time it was cheaper than flying a fam of 4.

One year, MNSSHP in OCt 04, Spirit had a special for $44 each way out of Laguardia. We went just b/c of that.

This year we are staying a at DVC and at Nick hotel for 2 weeks. We are SAVING big time and doing the E-bay thing for a few hundred too.

I agree w/living life to the fullest. I have lost a few family member to cancer and a 22 yr old brother in a car accident last year. We love WDW, so we figur out a way to go. I guess it's the when there's a will there's a way thing...

 

[Caitsmama]

This is our third yr going, and already booked for 2007.
We are a 3 person family (Me, DH, and DD5). My DH works 2 jobs, I own a small tourist driven store (seasonal), and we cut and save where we can.. The ONLY way that we have been able to go back each yr, is due to the fact my in-laws are disney freaks, and there is only 3 of us, so they ask us to go every Thanksgiving, as long as we don't mind sharing a room -- hmmmm.. sharing a deluxe concierge room at the BC??? That's an easy question to say yes to! LOL

So, Thanks to my awesome inlaws, we get to go once a yr. However, my goal is to be able to buy a DVC within the next 5 yrs, and then treat THEM!

 

[HayGan]

DH and I differ a bit (wel, quite a bit) on this topic. This is the second year in a row that we will be taking our boys (4 & 6). I am already planning next years December trip which will be with my dad and step-mother (DH is not going ) Me and my kids absolutely love going to WDW. DH enjoys it but thinks that once a year is overkill. I think that I will likely continue to take the boys once a year/every 18 months until they say no more (which will hopefully never happen ) We will continue to have a second vacation every year to the beach with DH as well.

We are currently a one income family. I am lucky enough to have a fairly well paying job while DH is working on building his own business (which currently costs us money rather than generating income.) We save throughout the year to do our trips. Since I am paid evey other week, I receive 2 extra checks per year. Those checks either go to vacation or savings. This year's trip is cheaper than last because 1) we aren't staying at the Poly and 2) we have 6 days left on our passes from last year. Those were 2 big factors in keeping this year's cost down.

My recent trip with my mom was an unexpected trip and at less than $600 a person for everything (food, lodging, airfare, passes), I just couldn't say no